90 CHAMOIS HUNTING. 



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a distance the distinction of course is not so striking, 

 and the male is then recognized by his stronger build, 

 by his general appearance and more gallant bearing. It 

 is the same thing as with the stag, which, as he passes 

 through a wood, though you should not see his antlers, 

 you recognize instantly. How different his carriage from 

 that of the hind, and particularly the way in which he 

 bears his head ! But it requires a very practised eye to 

 distinguish thus with chamois, and it has often asto- 

 nished me to witness how quickly and with what cer- 

 tainty the foresters have decided, almost at a glance, 

 whether a buck were among a herd. 



The head of the chamois is admirably constructed for 

 uniting strength with the greatest possible lightness. 

 The frontal bones are extremely thin, — so much so in- 

 deed that they would of themselves be liable to fracture 

 on the slightest casualty. But to make them strong, 

 and at the same time retain their lightness, a second 

 set is thrown over the first, and the space between is 

 divided into cells, formed by the arched girders of solid 

 bone which uphold the roof and bind the whole toge- 

 ther. The system which Nature has here adopted is ex- 

 emplified in the cells in the upper and lower part of the 

 tube that forms the Britannia Bridge. Just as these 

 thin iron plates would separately be unable to bear much, 

 but placed above and united to each other present an 

 amount of strength and firmness capable of resisting 

 almost any opposing force, so these fine thin bones of the 

 chamois' head, thus beautifully united by an arched cel- 

 lular construction, become as firm as the rock on which 

 the creature stands, and are at the same time so light as 

 not to hinder any of its agile movements. The arched 

 girders which occupy the space between the upper and 

 lower surface rise, bridge-like, with a spiral twist, and 



